Sunday, August 21, 2011

BIG PICNIC ALERTS PUBLIC TO SCALE OF TESCO PLANS

Over 100 people turned out today to picnic on Bridgwater's threatened Brewery Field to draw attention to the unpopular plans of Tory Sedgemoor District Council to churn up the field and replace it with a gigantic Tesco's Extra store.

Anson Way resident Tricia Walsh said "We put out a line of flags to show where the frontage of the store might come. In fact The flags are 5 metres and the pre-planning store height is 11.75m ! The trees behind will all go and the field could be closed for a year or more during construction! "

Westover ward councillor Brian Smedley said "The Brewery Field is one of Bridgwater's last remaining public open spaces in the town centre and has been earmarked by land owners Sedgemoor & Somerset Council's to be vastly reduced in size to make way for the Tesco Development which will also obscure the view from the Docks to the Church tower. Sedgemoor hastily demolished the popular Splash swimming pool in order to clear the way for the development after serving injunctions against members of the public who occupied the building to try to save it ."

" A Tesco development of this size and in this location will devastate not enhance the town centre and add to the traffic chaos which EDF and their failure to consider a by-pass will bring to the area. Residents in the vicinity of the field will have their lives turned upside down by a 24 hour none stop Supermarket crammed into an already tightly developed and limited space. The proof that the people of Bridgwater don't want this has been clear after the big Tory losses in the last election in the town and the fact that people are continuing to support the campaign against this ridiculous and damaging policy imposed on the people of Bridgwater by an administration that has it's strength in all 4 corners of the district but cares nothing for the town."

The protest picnic was supported by Residents, Trades Unionists, the campaign group Bridgwater Forward, and wellwishers from around the town.